SHIRELY Sheridan was a confident 31-year-old professional and was married for just six months when her life was turned upside down.

She was very active playing badminton, cycling, going to the gym and socialising with friends - enjoying the sort of life most people would expect to have in their 30s - but, almost overnight, she lost her sight.

It was a devastating blow and one she found incredibly hard to accept.

Shirley, who now lives in Upon-upon-Severn, had suffered from type 1 diabetes as a child and, as a consequence, the retinas in both eyes became detached. As far as Shirley was concerned “from that day my life ended”.

She initially had laser treatment and then two operations to try and re-attach the retinas. “This did not give me my sight back. It only gave me a small amount of peripheral vision,” she said.

“It was such a big label to be registered blind and it was a shock. I really was not expecting to be blind. They were trying to fix it but you almost need to be prepared for what might happen. I had no experience of anyone who was blind. It was so devastating.

“My husband did not know what to do and was looking to me for guidance as to what he could do to make me feel better. He was doing his best but he was pushed into a situation he was unfamiliar with. I was confident and independent and suddenly he was my carer.”

Without her sight Shirley could not even walk down the road. “I had to stay at home to be safe and listen to the radio. It was a case of ‘this is how it is and make the best of what you can’. It was a struggle to get out of bed.”

All the things most of us take for granted, like finding your slippers or the clothes you want to wear, making a drink or something to eat and going out to the shop became incredibly difficult if not impossible.

“Sight is so important and it gives you so much information. When you lose your sight you feel useless and stupid and a burden because you cannot do the simple things you did before,” said Shirley

Despite going on a rehabilitation course to learn techniques for coping at home, for 14 years Shirley lapsed into an existence rather than living her life. She called it “muddling along”. While she could cope at home she did not feel able to go out and began to feel isolated. Her confidence drained away.

Then, she and her husband Tony moved from King’s Norton in Birmingham to Upton and her sight condition was flagged up by Social Services. “I think a social worker must have passed on my name to Sight Concern.”

And that referral to the Worcestershire charity was to transform her life.

Shirley said: “Someone from the charity phoned me to ask if I wanted to come to the Which Way Now course, which is to help people to adjust to living without sight.

“To begin with I dismissed it. I could not see how anyone could help me without giving me back my sight. The following week I had a phone call from that person again asking if I had thought about it. She said ‘We would like to see you. You will benefit from it’.

“She was sight impaired and then I started to listen. She obviously knew what she was talking about. She was not just saying it to try and make me feel better - she knew. The next week she phoned again and offered a volunteer driver to pick me up. I could not refuse because it was like a personal invitation.

“Once I was through the doors, I did not want to stop coming. I was meeting other people with visual impairments and I knew I was not alone. When I walked past the lounge I could hear people chatting and laughing. I liked laughing but I had not done much of that.

“These people were enjoying themselves and they were all visually impaired and so I laugh with them all now. It gave me hope for the future.”

Shirley did the Which Way Now course and a computer course at the charity’s Bradbury Centre in Sansome Walk, Worcester.

She also went on an organised tour of the Hive which has helped her to use the new library and went on a visit to Worcester’s bus depot to meet the drivers and go on a bus. This gave her the confidence to start using public transport and regain some independence.

“I use the buses now and meet up with my visually impaired friends and we go shopping. I play golf now because of Sight Concern. I play at least twice a week. My husband is my guide when I play at Gaudet Luce Golf Club in Droitwich and I go in the clubhouse like everyone else. I am part of the community.

“I want people to realise that sight loss is not the end of your life. Thanks to Sight Concern I am becoming confident again and rediscovering who I am. I no longer feel a failure or stupid or useless. It has also taken the pressure off my husband as my carer.”

Last year Shirley did a sky dive to raise money for Sight Concern and she is now a trustee of the charity. She regularly gives talks to community groups like Probus Clubs, WIs, Rotary Clubs, trainee doctors and opticians, managers at companies like Bosch, primary schools, scouts, guides, sixth form college students and any other groups to tell her story spread the word about the charity’s work.

Sight Concern Worcestershire chief executive officer Jenny Gage said there are more than 200 people registered visually impaired in the county each year but there are many others who could benefit from the charity’s help.

But she added that last year the charity lost a third of its funding when the county council ended its contracts and as a result they had to review their services.

One of the consequences is that people using Sight Concern are now asked to pay a contribution for what they receive but the charity wants to expand its services to provide more support to people in their local areas.

As a result they have launched a pilot support group in Bromsgrove which meets weekly on a Thursday at the Methodist Church, Stratford Road, offering a programme of activities and speakers. The charity has also set up a pilot an information and advice service from Redditch Library. If both services are successful, Sight Concern plans to roll this out to other parts of Worcestershire.

Jenny said there are a number of volunteering opportunities available and the charity welcomes fundraisers. Also during April, Harrison Clark Rickerbys solicitors are running a Make a Will promotion for Sight Concern. All the firm’s discounted will fees are being donated to the charity.

On Wednesday April 15 there is an Info Tech Day from 10am to 3pm at the Bradbury Centre. This is an exhibition of aids and equipment designed to help visually impaired people live independently.

For more information about Sight Concern Worcestershire ring 01905 723245, call into the Bradbury Centre, visit www.sightconcern.co.uk or e-mail info@sightconcern.co.uk

• Sight Concern Worcestershire is based at The Bradbury Centre in Sansome Walk.

• More than 150 people a week regularly visit the centre; more than 200 people access the Low Vision service; more than 200 people are supported by one to one community volunteers; more than 100 people enjoy social activities in their local area and many more people receive support.

• It offers a number of courses on living with sight loss, including cookery and computer courses.

• It has 386 types of aids and equipment available through its resource room and can make repairs and adjustments for clients.

• There are more than 19,000 in Worcestershire living with significant sight loss.